The passing of San Francisco Giants legend Willie Mays has led the team to open Oracle Park for fans to pay tribute to the baseball icon and simultaneously watch the game being played at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama. The Giants will face off against the St. Louis Cardinals in a game that honors the history of the Negro Leagues and celebrates Juneteenth.
Mays, who was born in Westfield, Alabama, in 1931 and played for the Birmingham Black Barons at the age of 17 in 1948, was scheduled to attend the game and take part in the festivities but had to cancel due to health reasons. The opening of Oracle Park will begin at noon Pacific Time, with the first pitch set for 4:15 p.m. The event will come to a close at approximately 8 p.m., during which fans can gather to watch the game on the stadium’s video board and witness special footage of Mays.
Rickwood Field, which once housed the Birmingham Black Barons, no longer hosts full-time tenants. However, Major League Baseball has made significant investments to revamp the field, including improving the playing surface, adjusting outfield walls to meet MLB standards, updating dugouts, enhancing the scoreboard, and making the field more accessible.
After his time with the Black Barons, Mays signed with the New York Giants and made his MLB debut in 1951. He played in the Major Leagues until 1973, with a brief break between 1952 and 1953 to serve in the US Army. Mays is widely regarded as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, known for his iconic basket catch in the 1954 World Series, where the Giants swept the Cleveland Indians and secured Mays his only World Series ring.
Mays’ accolades include being named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999 and the MLB All-Time Team. He is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, the San Francisco Giants Wall of Fame, and has had his number 24 retired by both the Giants and the New York Mets, where he played his final two seasons. Mays holds impressive career statistics, including a batting average over .300, over 3,000 hits, and over 500 home runs. He was a 24-time All-Star, a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, a 12-time Gold Glove winner, a 1954 NL batting champion, the 1951 NL Rookie of the Year, and led the NL in home runs and stolen bases multiple times.
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